The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government

In the second of two grants from the New York Health Foundation’s Coverage Consortium initiative, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government implemented Phase 2 of a project that focused on reform options for New York’s small-group insurance market . This project built on the knowledge base developed in the first grant phase, with specific analyses focused on insurance product standardization, advantages and disadvantages of high-risk pools, and sustainable methods for financing coverage expansions.

This project was part of a larger NYHealth Coverage Consortium that funded 10 grants to seven universities, policy institutes, and community agencies across the State, supporting projects that could inform State health reform efforts, offer ways to streamline enrollment in public programs, significantly reduce costs and improve quality, and test ideas for expanding coverage among small employers, sole proprietors, and self-employed people.

Read an NYHealth special report that contains a summary of findings from this consortium.

Read about the first of two grants to the Rockefeller Institute from the NYHealth Coverage Consortium initiative.

In Phase 2 of this project, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government will focus on reform options for New York’s small-group insurance market and build on the knowledge base developed in the first grant phase. As the research arm of the State University of New York since 1981, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government conducts studies and projects to help states and localities meet critical challenges.

Phase 1 of the Reforming the Small-Group Insurance Market project included a 50-state synthesis of small-group reform strategies. This encyclopedic analysis describes a “menu of options” that states across the country have adopted to address their small-group insurance markets. The experience of three innovative states (Maine, Minnesota, and New Jersey), were analyzed and recorded as case studies. Specific analyses of Phase 2 will focus on insurance product standardization, advantages and disadvantages of high-risk pools, and sustainable methods for financing coverage expansions.